How to Make Iced Coffee at Home (and Avoid Brewing Watery Iced Coffee)

Did you try to make iced coffee but it turned out watery? This is a common coffee brewing error. Iced coffee is a great summertime alternative to normal hot coffee. But there's a trick to brewing iced coffee and if done properly, you can avoid watery iced coffee - very unappetizing! Keep reading to learn how to make iced coffee at home.

Things You'll Need

• Coffee Maker
• Ground coffee
• Water
• Coffee Cup
• Ice
• Sugar or Artificial Sweetener (optional)
• Creamer, Milk or Half and Half (optional)

Instructions

1. Fill the coffeemaker carafe with water and pour the water into the reservoir of the coffee maker.

2. Place a coffee filter into the coffeemaker's basket and insert ground coffee. Fresh ground coffee makes for the best results. Flavored coffee will also make a great iced coffee drink.

3. Turn on the coffeemaker and begin brewing the coffee as you normally would if you were brewing hot coffee.

4. Turn off the coffeemaker once the coffee is done brewing. Then, pour the coffee back into the reservoir of the coffeemaker - the same place where you would add the water if you were brewing coffee normally.

5. Turn on the coffeemaker and allow brewing to proceed. Double brewing the coffee makes for a stronger coffee; this will prevent the coffee from tasting "watery" when ice is added.

6. Fill a cup with ice and pour the coffee into the cup once brewing is complete.

7. Add cream, milk or half and half, along with sugar or artificial sweetener if you prefer.

8. Clean the coffeemaker, carafe and filter basket.

Tips & Warnings

• Taste the iced coffee. Still a bit weaker than you prefer? If you enjoy really strong iced coffee, you can empty the used coffee grounds at the end of step 4 and replace with a new filter and fresh ground coffee. Another way to make the coffee a bit stronger is to add an extra spoonful of ground coffee instead of replacing the grounds.

• Sugar does not dissolve well in cold coffee. If you use a lot of sugar and it's not dissolving properly, you can follow these steps: pour the sugar into the coffee cup; add hot coffee; stir until the sugar is dissolved; add the ice.

Resources

• How to Clean a Coffeemaker and Remove Coffee Stains